Medical Fields Find Immediate Benefit from 3D Printing

Healthcare applications are using 3D printers to produce medical devices, prototypes, and components to save patients and doctors money and time.

Credit: HP

While the world is not yet at the stage where doctors can 3D print new organs for patients, the technology has made inroads in the healthcare space, particularly in dentistry and prosthetics. Proponents of additive manufacturing and 3D printing see it expanding into medical devices, prototypes, and components that can be attached outside and inside the human body.

Market research firm Global Market Insights has predicted that the 3D printing market for healthcare will exceed $2.2 billion by 2024. “Today, 3D printers are being deployed heavily across the medical space to create medical device prototypes, dental applications, medicine models, surgical prototypes, and more, thereby creating lucrative growth avenues for healthcare 3D printing market investors,” the report states, adding that the medical industry has garnered many of the benefits from the technology.

In this free download, author Phil Britt highlights several categories within the healthcare space finding immediate benefits from 3D printing technologies, ranging from dentistry through surgery. In addition, he highlights some trials in which 3D-printed internal materials are being tested.